Kerry Kennedy is accused of driving while impaired with drugs. / Frank Becerra Jr., The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

by Erik Shilling, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

by Erik Shilling, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- The decision by Kerry Kennedy to go through with a jury trial in her drugged-driving case means she'll be among a tiny fraction of defendants who choose to challenge misdemeanor charges in court.

If Kennedy, daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy and former wife of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, wins her case, she will join an even more exclusive club.

Only 21 defendants in Westchester County facing misdemeanor charges in 2012 - the latest year from which statistics are available - won full acquittals in their cases, or 0.2 percent of all cases, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Another 7,996 defendants, or 72 percent of all cases, were convicted, either by guilty plea or after a trial. The remaining defendants either had their cases dismissed, covered by another charge, or adjourned in contemplation of dismissal - a common outcome for the most minor of crimes, like disorderly conduct.

But the Kennedy case is not like the others, requiring the large, ceremonial courtroom at the Westchester County courthouse. Opening arguments are set for Monday.

Kennedy, 54, is facing a single misdemeanor count of driving while ability impaired - a charge that in most circumstances would be litigated and settled in the local jurisdiction where it was committed, in her case North Castle Town Court.

But her lawyers argued that the court there was vastly under-equipped for such a high-profile trial, and it was later moved to the Westchester County Courthouse.

Kennedy also opted for a jury, a strategic decision by her lawyers that legal experts said suggests they may not be completely comfortable putting the case in the hands of the trial judge, Robert A. Neary.

Bennett L. Gershman, a law professor at Pace University and an experienced trial lawyer, said that jury trials allow for "a little more histrionics in the courtroom."

Gershman also said those who bring misdemeanor cases to trial are often public figures with the resources to do so, like Kerry Kennedy's brother Douglas, who went to trial on child-endangerment charges in November 2012, or former White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley, who did the same on spousal-abuse charges in June.

"Why go through the process when so little is at stake?" Gershman said.

William Aronwald, a lawyer for Kennedy, said his client opted for a jury trial to raise the bar for prosecutors, who now must convince four men and two women beyond a reasonable doubt.

"If you go to a bench trial, you have a jury of one," Aronwald said.

Aronwald and another lawyer for Kennedy, Gerald Lefcourt, have strenuously argued that Kennedy accidentally took a sleeping pill before getting behind the wheel.

If convicted, she faces fines, loss of driving privileges and potentially one year in jail, though the latter is seen as unlikely because she would be a first-time offender.

Despite the long odds of an acquittal, she might take solace in her brother's case and that of Bradley. Both won.